The Apostle Matthew

So the Apostle we're going to be looking at this Sunday is the Apostle Matthew. Most people know the name Matthew because he's the writer of the first Gospel, Matthew, the first book of the New Testament.

Matthew is the longest of the four Gospels, which highlights Christ as Israel's great king. It also has the most Old Testament references, therefore we know it's directed more at a Jewish audience, while Luke, for example, is directed more towards a Greek audience.

Matthew was a Hebrew man, a tax collector, more on that in a moment, but he's also called, what's his other name, Matthew or Levi, right? So which is his actual name? Is it Matthew or Levi? Have you ever wondered that?

Well, as I've said before with the Apostles, it's very common for them to have more than one name, and this is common even today. You know people who don't go by the name given to them at birth. They either go by their middle name or a nickname, so that's probably what's going on here.

So while it's never explained, he likely was named after the Old Testament patriarch Levi, the son of Jacob. Levi was also the priestly tribe. However, Jesus may have changed his name to Matthew, which means gift of God.

Whatever the case, one thing we know for certain is that Matthew was a publican or a tax collector. He records his own calling in Matthew 9, 9 through 13, which says, as Jesus passed from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me.

So he arose and followed him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

And of course, tax collectors are never popular in any culture, let's face it, but especially back then, they were hated, really despised in Jewish culture because they were seen as traitors. They were collecting taxes for Rome.

They would often take more than what was due to line their own pockets. So they were outcasts, especially to the religious elite. But these were the people that Jesus came to save. Jesus came to save who?

Sinners. And here's the thing about that, you need to recognize that you need saving in order to be saved. So this is why Jesus responds to the Pharisees with these words, and I'll close with this. When Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.